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Breaking Sounds

BREAKING SOUNDS: Mac Blackout s/t LP

Mac Blackout, the formidable head from the likes of the late Functional Blackouts and the more recent Daily Void, just released his first official record on Dead Beat Records. After a number of years of self-releasing brilliantly creepy CD-Rs, it is great to see that his refulgent concoction of nutcake bedroom babble has made its way to the worthy masses. As part of a new neophytic, homespun electro psych guard, his music is weird, introspective and static-charged.

As many bands out there nowadays aping the Chrome aesthetic, Mr. Blackout injects a more modern sneer of the futuristic sounds that ride a wave of low-economy fuzz. His songs shockingly awaken us to the fact that the pioneers of the future-primitive cyborg beat had times like these in mind over thirty years ago, and Mac Blackout, along with the rest of us, are stuck here. But don't go fumbling for your precious PDA from the zipper pocket on your sleeve just yet. Rather than take the tired path of lyrically painting alien landscapes from the distant 22nd century, he reverts to classic subject matter in his songwriting and the outcome is just ludicrous enough to make prefect sense. In the opener "Everybody Rock" he lays out a scene in the song that is almost from a Norman Rockwell painting with the family members each submerged in their own interest. Later, in another song titled "Dreamin' for the Summertime" he sings about his anxiousness for a change of weather, and he does it through a weird veil of musical dementia. Also included is the original Daily Void hit "Surprise Surprise," but on this release it's titled "You've Lost Your Eyes" and is sung behind simple keyboard tinkering with a discordant and medicinally mechanic voice that's affecting and menacing. An impressive first solo record from Mac Blackout, be sure to pick up here.